Spirited Away: Entering the tunnel a second time
by RhiannonDragons
Summary: Mei and Chihiro are best friends and plan on moving to Tokyo to start up a new business. But Chihiro wants to say goodbye to the Kohaku river one last time and after chasing Mei's sketches towards the tunnel, figures that it is a sign.. The tunnel is open once more.. But will they both make it into the Spirit World.. Or will one be left behind.. PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! THANKS xx
1. Chapter 1

Mei walked over to the car, hefting a large box full of paint and equipment. Her arms ached slightly from the lifting she'd been doing. She felt pretty tired too; she hadn't slept since she had received the call.

Today she wore a self-made shirt and a pair of scruffy, stained jeans- in her view, well suited to a painter. Her mother certainly wouldn't be pleased at all. She was one of those old fashioned types who still believed that 'proper' women wore tidy dresses and only spoke when spoken to.

"Mei!" Chihiro stumbled out into the hot summer air. "Give me a hand with this canvas. All this is yours after all!"

She carefully placed the stuff inside the car boot and rushed over to help her friend. Chihiro and Mei had met only a few years ago, but were inseparable at the hip. People often joked that they were each other's shadows; where one went, so did the other. Though, Mei thought of Chihiro as more of a younger sister.

"Sorry Chihiro. You really didn't have to help lift all my things, you know?" Mei grunted with effort as she shoved the painting into the back of the car.

Chihiro gave her a stern look. "Mei, how many times do I have to tell you, roommates help each other out. Besides, it's not like I have anything else to do.. I've already finished packing my stuff into my car." Strapping a final box to Mei's car's roof, they dusted off their hands. "There we go! All done and ready to go."

Mei sighed wistfully. "It's hard to believe we're actually going. I can't wait to set up my own art studio in Tokyo.. and you'll have your own cafe. It's going to be brilliant, yet.."

"You're still sad about leaving the village.." Finished Chihiro. "I feel the same.."

"It's great we got that house though.. It's, without doubt, big enough to have your cafe and my studio on the ground floor and then our own house on the first.." Mei slowed, seeing that Chihiro's eyes had gone distant and sad. "You're thinking about him again aren't you."

Chihiro bit her lip softly. "Can I visit the tunnel again..? Just... One last time.."

Mei hesitated. Two years ago, Chihiro had... Well... She'd.. She'd jumped in the river by that tunnel. Chihiro was found half-drowned by a neighbour. She'd claimed that she wanted to meet a friend of hers in there. No one believed her. Well, Mei kind of did. But nearly everyone thought that she had attempted to commit suicide. That lead to a sort of unspoken ban on Chihiro going there.

Chihiro's eyes now gleamed with tears. "Please, Mei.. I need to say goodbye.."

Mei choked slightly. "Chihiro please don't.. You know I hate it when people cry..."

Chihiro let her lip wobble half out of play, half out of genuine grief.

"Damn it, okay Chihiro, but we are not going too close to the water's edge!"

Chihiro smiled, her face as bright as sunshine. "Thanks Mei. It means a lot to me." She grabbed her hand eagerly. "C'mon!"

...

Mei huffed gently as Chihiro dragged her along the path like an excited six year old. She couldn't believe she was letting Chihiro go back to this place again after she'd nearly died, for the second time, in that very river. Also, she couldn't understand what she was doing by the tunnel, even for Chihiro's sake.. The tunnel had always given her the creeps. She shivered slightly as she passed the small houses of the spirits. 'You'd better watch out, or the spirits shall steal you away.' That's what her Grandma always said when she was naughty as a child.

Chihiro lead her to a halt by the river. Mei watched carefully as she bent down to get a little closer to the water.

"Don't fall in." She warned cautiously.

Chihiro rolled her eyes and looked out at the ripples on the surface. "Hi Kohaku." She began. "You may not be able to hear me, but I just wanted to come to say goodbye." Mei watched as Chihiro relaxed, her lips forming a droopy smile that spoke for her. She was head over heels in love. The poor girl. Shut up. Mei frowned at herself inwardly. Don't call her that. That's what they call her. All those 'sympathetic' townsfolk. "I do miss you, you know." Chihiro spoke up again. "Everyday. I haven't forgotten your promise." Her voice broke off. Mei's heart ached for her friend.

She didn't particularly know whether or not to believe in all the stories and tales of the spirit world that Chihiro had told her, or whether or not there really was a dragon boy called Haku, but she did believe in love. She laid a hand on Chihiro's shoulder comfortingly. "But I can't wait any longer for you. I'm sorry Haku. In a few hours I'm leaving for Tokyo. If you.. If you can.. No. Even if you can contact me in Tokyo in any way, don't.. It's been too long. Good bye.." As a tear slid down her cheek, she stood, turning her back on the river. A determined look crossed her face and she stepped towards Mei.

"I'm ready to go now, thank-!"

Mei gasped as a page from her sketchbook flew away, diving out of her reach and finally landing beneath the chilled shade of the tunnel.

"Quick get it!" She raced over, sliding it back inside with her other drawings. "Phew, that was close."

Mei turned to face Chihiro. "You okay?"

Chihiro nodded grinning. "I think this is a sign."

"What..?"

"The spirit world is open again!"

"Huh? Chihiro, it was just a slight breeze-"

Chihiro gave Mei a hopeful look, with a little desperation. "Close your eyes and walk through the tunnel with me..? Please."

Mei exhaled. "Fine. But don't be disappointed if nothing-"

Chihiro lead her forwards. "Quick, close your eyes."

Mei slammed her eyes shut abruptly as she walked below the cobwebbed arches. She hated spiders.

"What now?"

Chihiro hushed her. "Just keep on walking."

"But Chihiro, we're going to bump into something-" like spider webs... Whispered a little, traitorous voice in her mind. A chill ran down her spine.

"Come on, please, please, please.." Chihiro muttered under her breath. "Let us through, let us through.."

Mei felt nothing. After what had felt like decades she gradually opened her eyes. "Umm.. Chihiro.."

Chihiro looked around excitedly. "Did it work! ..oh..."

"I'm sorry Chihiro, but we're still here.. No spirits or.. Anything-" a gust of wind shoved her from behind, making her spiral out of control. She fell forwards anticipating the hard rubble ground and landed, face first into.. Water..?

...

Chihiro blinked in shock. Mei had disappeared. It had worked. Mei was in the spirit world. Chihiro would soon be too! She could see her friends again.. And.. Haku! She'd be able to see Kamaji and the soot sprites.. And she could trick Yubaba into accepting her into the bathhouse again.. She raced forwards, arms outstretched eagerly. Chihiro froze.

"What?!" Nothing had happened. She was still in the village by the river. She took another step forward. And another. And another. "No!" Frantically she kept running forwards, only to pass the empty houses of a still abandoned bathhouse and empty stalls with no one around. It didn't work. Mei was gone. She had left Chihiro alone in the human world, whilst she went to join the spirits. Chihiro collapsed to her knees sobbing. "You took the wrong person! It was supposed to be me! Not her!"

...


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Spirited Away. This applies for all chapters. Also, I'm sorry, this chapter is rather short. I may edit it in the future.**

Mei choked, spitting out the water. She was drenched from head to toe. She stood awkwardly, looking around. Her heart thumped almost painfully in her chest. No. No, she couldn't be here. She was supposed to be with Chihiro, back where her car was getting ready to leave. They were going to have a pleasant, normal day. This wasn't meant to happen!

But despite that, Mei was standing waist deep in an endless ocean full of lights, far away from where she wished she was. It was getting dark already here and she could see boats beginning to dock in a harbour. Suddenly the ground slipped away from her and the water rose up to her neck.

"Oh god!" She desperately waded towards the stone steps, but the water seemed to want to swallow her up, making her movement slow and useless. The ground got further and further away from her feet, until she had to stand on tiptoe. The only part of her that could be seen now was her face as the waves tried to submerge her beneath them. "Help-" she gurgled, petrified at a passing ferry. She thought they had not heard her, but they had in fact pointedly ignored her.

"Urghhh! Disgusting! The human is alive still! Stupid human, polluting our world.."

She craned her neck round slightly to find a weird creature peering down at her from a small floating life buoy that it appeared to be using as a boat. She reached out towards the buoy eagerly.

"Eeww! Go away human! Find your own vessel, this is mine-"

Mei grabbed onto it, hoisting herself up and began to kick her legs to get back to land.

"Oof! How dare you! I am just a small spirit and I can swim, but that was unnecessary!"

She gasped with relief as she crawled onto the cobbled road, dragging her limp, soaked body.

"Sorry about the life buoy!" She waved at the spirit weakly. Turning her head, she noticed that the dark figures were beginning to climb out of the ferry eerily in synch. "Oh dear.." Her head ached with confusion. This had to be some sort of weird hallucination.. Even so.. She broke in a stumbling, tired jog to get away. "This is madness." She muttered to herself, ducking to avoid yet again another 'spirit'. "Absolute madness."

She turned another corner and ducked into the darkness. Now.. What was it that Chihiro had told her about the Spirit World? "Oww." Mei paused for a moment to rub her arm. She hurt all over. She was pretty sure that if there were mosquitoes in this world, they had bitten her. "Arrrgghhhh!" A scream forced its way up her throat. Her arm was translucent. In fact, all of her body was translucent. It was like she was turning to mist. She panicked for a moment, hurriedly searching her memory for an answer to her problem.

'When I visited the Spirit World, a kind boy called Haku gave me food to stop me from disappearing. I couldn't eat from the stalls as it would turn me into a pig.' Food. She looked around desperately. That's what Chihiro told her. Without food, humans vanished. But where could she find some.. Her glance rested on a bush full of green berries. There. Her rational side winced. What if they're poisonous?! She looked at her arm again. It was almost gone entirely. "No time like the present to find out." She grabbed a handful and rammed it into her mouth, gagging as it went down. "Bleurgggghhhhhhhhhhh!" She coughed. "These aren't exactly tasty!"

A young man appeared behind her. "They aren't meant to be." His eyes glowed curiously. "Like you are not meant to be here. Tell me, is the portal still open?"

Mei froze for a minute, then raced away, tumbling and tripping in fright. How had she not noticed him walk up to her? She opened the doors of a large house and fled inside, not bothering to check who or what was in there. She couldn't hear anything. She trembled, shocked and gulped back tears. Everything was happening so quickly, it was like a blur. Mei felt slightly sick and dizzy. The real world seemed to be flying away from her, as she lost her grip on reality. Her breaths came out from her ragged and lost.

"What are you doing here?" Another voice had managed to creep up on her. Great. She turned around, barely acknowledging the blood streaming from her nose. Oh. Oh no. That was a lot more than just one voice. There were thousands of spirits surrounding her. Some were bathing, some cleaning and some serving others, but every single one was silent. She had walked into the bathhouse. More voices began to speak.

"It's a human."

"It stinks of its world."

"Oh the smell!"

"Will they be getting rid of it?"

"Is it Sen? Do you think it knows Sen?"

"Maybe it's Yubaba's latest pet.."

She was shaking violently now, pressing herself flat against the wall. She wanted to run, but her legs were refusing to work. The noise build up around her, overwhelming her.

"Oh look, it's scared."

"Hmm, I've never seen a human before."

"Do you think it is ill? We wouldn't want Bo to worry would we?"

She let out a whimper. Her palms were sweating and her head thudded painfully as it hit the floor. Mei began to blackout as the young man, with the dark hair reached out to her, among the unfamiliar faces.

"Get Yubaba. I think our world if affecting her differently to Sen as she is an adult." His voice was almost drowned out by the rushing of her blood in her ears.

"But Yubaba will make her-"

"Just get her."

Mei felt a rush of disorientation as everything slipped away from her.

"Hold on, ailing human, master Haku doesn't wish for you to die and he'll kill me if you do."

She forced her mouth to move. "Thank..you.."


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note: Once again, sorry, this Chapter isn't that long. I was running out of plot ideas. Suggestions are much appreciated. Hope you enjoy it, I may edit these chapters in the future.**

...

Lin stiffened at the sound of the human's voice. It was soft and gentle, yet strong and certain. It reminded her of her friend, Sen and also her-. She sighed, wistfully. She hadn't told anyone, but she had grown rather attached to the young girl from the human world. But Sen was gone now. So was her-

She winced. "I thought I had stopped thinking about that." Lin muttered to herself. "I should be over it by now." She forced her eyes away from the woman in her arms, only to glance back a minute later. The human had long, silky waves of black hair that grazed the hand polished floor of the bathhouse as Lin carried her to Yubaba's office room. It matched perfectly with her long, shady eyelashes, that now hid her bright emerald green eyes. The human was bringing back bad memories that she had locked away long ago; for a good reason. Nearing the corner, she halted.

Lin knocked slightly hesitantly at the door. Yubaba had been grumpier than ever since she'd lost her henchman, even though he still helped out most of the time anyway. The doors slammed open loudly, knocking into one of Yubaba's jumping heads. "Yob, yob!" It walked dumbly back into the wall, falling forwards.

"Silence!" The witch's voice cut through the air like a razor. "What is it Lin?" Her eyes slid greedily to the woman. "Ahh.. Another stinky human has got through the portal." She inhaled, grimacing, then jumped angrily. Her eyes bulged whilst her hair raised around her, turning white. "What are you doing, bringing that here!? It's sick!" Her hands slapped the desk, closing all the doors surrounding them. "Lin! You know how Bo feels about illnesses!"

"Sorry."

Yubaba huffed. "Sorry, shmorry! You can do the big tub again tomorrow!"

Lin groaned inwardly. "Sure.. But can you save the human?"

"Yes. For a price of course. Otherwise, she can die, it's not like it'll affect my work."

Lin wasn't amused. "I'll tell Bo."

The witch froze, hissing. "You wouldn't dare!"

Lin opened her mouth to call her precious baby.

"No! Don't!"

"So you'll do it?"

"Fine. I mean sure. Whatever. The human just needs a little 'spirit' in her." The corners of Yubaba's face creased with humour at her little joke. Haha. As if she would ever take orders from a little fox spirit.

Lin watched nervously as Yubaba took out a bright light from one of her dust covered jars and tore of a small piece of it, feeding it to the woman. "What are you doing?"

Yubaba growled at her, enjoying herself. Lin had no idea what she was up to. "Be quiet. You may have cornered me into doing this, but I can still turn you into a pig to stop you from telling Bo. I'm just getting a little out of doing this."

Lin stared back at her employer. "Pigs can still squeal you know! What are you doing to the human?! You said you wouldn't demand a price!"

"There is always a price. And yes, I just took it. Human children can survive in the spirit world on food. You know that. But human adults either have to manifest into something else or have to become a spirit. I figured you wouldn't approve of me turning her into a cockroach." Yubaba screwed the lid back on smugly.

"But you don't have enough power to turn her into a spirit!" Lin's hands flew to her mouth as Yubaba zipped her lips tightly together and sealed her ears so that she could not hear a sound.

"No, I don't." She leaned over to the human again. "What's your name?"

The human sat up abruptly, banging her head against Yubaba's.

"Ouch! Stupid human! You're almost as clumsy as Sen was!"

"What's going on?!" She looked around wide eyed. "Who are you?! Where am I?!"

Yubaba silenced her. "What is your name? Hurry up and spit it out girl!"

She human's face took a shocked expression. "Mei, but-"

The words drifted from her mouth onto the paper, shifting round to form: Aika.

"Aika. That's a pretty name." Yubaba beamed into her face, showing off her stained teeth. "Well, Aika, say hello to your new mistress."

"What?!" Mei, no, Aika, frowned. "What are you talking about?!"

"You're my new Henchwoman. Actually, I'm not entirely sure what you are now. But you work for me, and that's all that matters.. By the way, welcome to the bathhouse. The sanctuary for tired spirits.."


	4. Chapter 4

Aika frowned for the third time tonight. It had been two hours since she had woken up now, and she was just as confused as she had been first entering the bathhouse. She had opened her eyes only to find herself in a strange room- a place she now knew to be Yubaba's study, surrounded by strange, green heads, a fairly attractive woman with a firmly closed mouth and a weird, old lady with a ginormous bun that seemed to defy gravity- Yubaba.

Yubaba had told her that she was now some sort of servant. Of course, that made no sense. Ha. Ha. Ha. Oh dear. It couldn't, could it? This wasn't the Victorian era after all, and there was no way in hell Aika was going to serve and follow the every whim of a woman who had not only insulted her, called her clumsy and an idiot, but stolen her name. Though she didn't know how it was possible, it seemed to be a pretty big deal here in the Spirit World and she was sure that it was just as bad in the Human World, even if she couldn't recall it ever happening there.

To top that, Yubaba had told her that she was a witch. Now. That was something Aika could easily believe. Only a witch could be so irritating and grouchy. She had seen Yubaba talking to her other 'workers' and it appeared she was as bossy as she was old. For now though, the witch seemed rather pleased with Aika. Even if it was a rather creepy kind of pleased, she preferred it to what she referred to as 'Yubaba's grumpy face'.

"So. You're trying to tell me I'm some sort of super human thingy..?" Aika stared at her new 'mistress' in disbelief.

Yubaba huffed. "No. I said I don't know exactly what you are, but you will definitely have some sort of ability, or you may be able to transform into something else, like a small frog spirit. You won't be anything big unfortunately."

"So basically I'm a superhuman thingy."

"No, I said-"

"You're trying to tell me I'm like Superwoman? Aww man, what if I'm like the Incredible Hulk? I don't really fancy the green look, I mean your freaky head things are rocking it, but.. Like I said, not my kinda thing."

A head bobbed over to her appreciatively. "Yob, yob!" It jumped up and down.

"No-!"

"Oh well, the hulk is pretty strong!"

"Aika." Yubaba glowered at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Well if you wish to continue feeling that way I suggest you shut up."

Aika fell silent. Ever since she had entered the spirit world she had felt nervous and worried, and whenever she was nervous she talked. A lot. Nerves seemed to give her verbal diarrhoea; making her fan side come out. She secretly loved comics and movies, despite denying owning any Marvel and DC comics to her parents. Comics were another pet hate of her mother. 'It's not ladylike to slump about whilst reading that trash!" Urrrgghhh. Her mother knew nothing. Marvel, in particular was her life. Though she did adore anime as well.

"You now live in the bathhouse with me. The bathhouse is a place for spirits of all sorts." Yubaba carried on, seeing that Aika was listening. "You are not allowed to leave-"

Aika opened her mouth angrily at that until Yubaba made a zipping motion across her lips. "And I expect you to eat frequently and wash frequently to get rid of that horrible human stench of yours. Thankfully as you are part spirit now, it is easily manageable."

Aika glared daggers at her and tried to speak again.

"Now. As I was trying to say when you first woke, you are now my Henchwoman. You work for me and only me. I have full control over you." She snapped her fingers, making an invisible force stand Aika up.

"Oww!" She turned to Yubaba. "What did I ever do to you?"

Yubaba smirked. "I simply just made a point. Anyway. Your first mission from me is.." She looked around until her crusty lips twisted into a wide grin. "Babysitting."

"Babysitting? Seriously? I'm not going to do that! I'm a free woman! You can't force me."

"Actually. I can. You're not a free woman any more Aika." Yubaba pushed her over to a door. "Have fun. You're going to be playing with him until we figure out what you are."

"With who?! You're not for real are you?!"

Yubaba turned her round, tottering almost too gleefully towards a pile of cushions. "Sweetie baby, mama's got a friend for you to play with!"

A large foot kicked out from under the mountain, narrowly missing Yubaba's head. "I don't wanna play."

Aika gawped. "What the-?"

"Now, now darling, you know mummy has been very busy recently-" A pillow slammed into Yubaba's face, cutting her sentence short.

"Go away. I want to sleep." Another pillow flew through the air.

"Sweetie-pie!" Yubaba snapped her bony fingers, using magic to hold him in place.

A petulant whine came from the direction of the chubby toes. "Let go of me mama!" This time a wooden train was hurled.

Yubaba removed her hands from the giant baby's leg hurriedly, then turned to Aika, seeing that he was clearly in an un-co-operative mood. She gestured tiredly towards the messy stack. "Get your lazy butt in there!"

"What? Me!"

"No, the Radish spirit. Yes of course you. Like I said, this is going to be your job until we figure out what on earth you are. Once we find out, you may have a different one, based on how useful your abilities turn out to be."

"I'm not going near that.. That.. Thing. It's huge!"

Yubaba pushed her face up close Aika's. "Let's get one thing straight here. You. Do. Not. Insult. My. Baby!" Aika flinched as Yubaba trailed a sharp fingernail across her cheek. "His name is Bo, he is mine and he is certainly NOT a thing. Now like I said: in you get! And don't you upset him!"

Aika paled, tip-toeing precociously towards a bright blue beanbag and quietly stepping over an alarmingly sized rattle. She held her breath as she lifted a teddy bear plushy from the pile. From the corner of her eye she could see Yubaba bustling out of the room eagerly, sealing the door as she did so with a quick spell. She gulped. He couldn't really be.. That.. Bad.. Could he? Her trouser leg snagged on something. Oops.

"Way to go dummy." She muttered to herself as she tugged a little at her jeans. "You're stuck now." She tugged a little harder. Nope. Still stuck. Aika began to get annoyed, crouching down and kicking her foot away from whatever object had trapped her. "Damn it, come on!" Suddenly it freed her, letting her foot carry her forwards. She tumbled into the pit of cushions, submerging herself entirely. "Brilliant." A loud huff escaped her.

"What's so brilliant?" A pair of gigantic inquisitive eyes peered at her. "And what are you doing in here? This is my room."

Aika froze. "Umm. Umm. Uhh." She cleared her throat. "Yubaba sent me in here. I'm supposed to be.. Babysitting?"

"Oh. Hey, you're human!" The baby shifted. "Part human at least. You smell funny. Like Sen did when she first came here, but weirder."

Discreetly, she sniffed the air. "I don't smell anything. Yubaba says she turned me into some sort of superhuman thingy."

"Mama said that? That doesn't sound much like her."

"Well.. She didn't say exactly that, but more or less the same thing. What is your name?"

"Bo."

"Huh." Aika made herself comfortable. "Did she take your real name as well?"

Bo shook his head rapidly. "No. Mama would never do that to me."

"Well, maybe you can give me some answers as Yubaba refused to listen to any of my questions." Aika sat up and pushed away at the toys so that she could breathe safely. "But first, can we get out of this pile?"

Bo shrugged. "If you really want to."

"I do, I really do." She winced as a heavy football slammed into her chest when she attempted to clamber forwards.

Bo looked over at her, concerned. "Do you want help?"

"No, I'm fine." Bo grabbed her arm, lifting her anyway. "No! No, really I'm fine! I'm fine." Her legs touched ground. "Oh. Thanks Bo."

He shrugged again. "Doesn't matter. What did you want to know?"

Aika brushed herself down, then settled on the floor. "As much as you can tell me about the Spirit World."

"Well that'll take a while.."

"Trust me. From the sound of things, I have a lot more than a while.."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, sorry if this has any spelling errors or seems a bit rushed. I've been trying to finish as many chapters as I can, as I am not sure excactly when my school term begins and once I get back to school I will probably have to stop writing for a bit because of homework and clubs. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

"So how do I get back to the human world?" Aika stretched her legs. She had fallen asleep last night on the hard wooden floor and was dealing with a rather nasty bruise she had earned from her mistake.

Bo shrugged. "Sen and Haku had to trick Mama into letting her go."

Hmm... How could she do that..? Yubaba seemed capable of commanding her to do anything.. A woman, or witch, with such power couldn't be dissuaded easily.

"Who is Sen, Bo? Everyone seems to know who she is, but me."

Bo's face lit up. "Sen was great! She was human too, though a lot more human than you seem to be. You would've liked her. Mama gave her a job here and turned her parents into pigs. I got very mad at Mama, and she let her go after a while."

Aika smiled. "You mean Chihiro?" Her heart ached slightly for her far away friend. She had been in the Spirit world for two days now.

Aika watched as Bo frowned down at her with an intensity that was unusual for a baby. Of course, as she had found out from her discussion with him, he wasn't actually the age he looked. Apparently he was reaching his fifth millennium this month. She had to ask him why he chose to be so young sometime. Aika took a mental note of this whilst she waited for Bo to respond.

"No. I haven't heard of anyone called Chihiro coming through the portal before. Was she important to you?"

"Yes and she still is. I think the 'Sen' you are describing is Chihiro.. She told me Yubaba stole her name, like she stole mine. Chihiro and I were about to move to Tokyo before I fell into this place."

"What is Tokyo?" Bo asked curiously. "Is that a bathhouse too?"

Aika stared at him incredulously. "You've really never heard of Tokyo?"

"No, we don't hear much about the human world at all. Just all about the pollution and bad things you cause."

Aika blinked. "Well don't you have any good things here that came from the human world? Like maybe.. Chocolate? DVD's? Umm.. Electricity? Or wifi?"

Bo shook his head. "Who is Chocolate? Is she or he a human too?"

Aika's jaw practically hit the floor. "You poor guy! I need to fix this immediately!" She rummaged through her pockets praying it hadn't been ruined by her soggy trip. Ah hah! She held it in the air triumphantly.

"What is it?" Bo prodded it with a large finger. "Is it safe?"

"This, is chocolate." She handed a small cube to him. "It is from a place from the world I come from. You eat it."

Bo looked at it wide eyed. "It's all squishy."

Aika winced a little. "Sorry about that. It melts pretty easily." She gestured to it. "Go on, have a taste."

Bo sniffed his fingers, before raising them to his mouth and carefully giving them a lick. His eyes brightened suddenly and he sucked the rest of his hand. "I wanna have more!"

Aika grinned. "Pretty nice, huh?"

Bo plucked the whole bar from her and scoffed it greedily. "Mmm.. Is there any other things from the human world you brought with you?"

"Hey! I was going to eat that!" Aika watched him dismayed, then emptied out her jacket. "I have.. my paintbrush, my sketchbook, a pencil, one comic, a pack of gum and.. Oh, my phone."

Bo giggled gleefully. "Are any of them yummy like the Chocolate?"

"Not exactly.. What would you like to see first?"

"Well, the paintbrush is just like our paintbrushes, and we have sketchbooks and pencils here already. What is that?" He pointed.

"That? That's just my phone."

He leaned forwards to examine it closer. "It doesn't look like our type of phone. Ours is connected to the wall."

Aika picked it up and turned it on. "That's because in the human world we have portable phones now. Hang on a minute, I'll show you some of the apps I've got."

"Apps? Are they like apples? How do apples fit inside your phone?"

Aika chuckled. "Nope. They're definitely not apples. Look, this app is called 'Spotify'. You listen to music through it." She handed it to Bo. "Pick a song."

Bo tapped at the screen with a pudgy finger. Music blasted noisily from the phone, making him jump backwards.

"Oops, sorry Bo, I forgot to turn the volume down. There. That's a bit better."

Bo smiled happily and clapped his hands. "Your magic phone has a speaker in it!" He nodded to the song. "Does it do anything else?"

"Yep. I'd say I have at least five games on my phone, maybe three social media based apps and some other bits and bobs. Like with your phones it's main purpose is communication. I can text, send emails and call people from anywhere in the world."

"Wow." Bo gawked at the phone with respect. "What is text and email?"

"Basically a different way of sending letters and messages. Oh!"

"What?"

Aika clasped her phone tightly. Her blood raced with joy. "Maybe I can send Chihiro a message to let her know I'm okay." She held her phone in the air hopefully, but she had no signal. None at all. "Damn. I guess I can only call people when I'm in the human world." A loud sigh escaped her. She stared at the phone for a while, her heart sinking. She bit her lip. Aika was truly separated from her home. She couldn't even text her family, never mind see them. For the second time since she had arrived in this world, she let herself collapse. She cried, letting her tears patter against the floor like raindrops. This was all too much. She couldn't remember her name at all; she hadn't eaten; she had barely slept; she would have been completely alone if it wasn't for Bo, in a world she knew practically nothing about still; and she was under the spell of a witch.

Bo tottered over to her, with one of the green heads from Yubaba's study following behind.

"Yob, yob?" It handed her a handkerchief.

"Thanks Hank. Sorry, I'm being a bit soft at the moment. I just feel so confused and everything that has happened seems so.. Impossible. A week ago I'd be sat in my room painting and chatting with my friends. Now I'm sat in a bathhouse for spirits telling a green, bobbing head I've nicknamed Hank my sob story."

It hopped up onto her lap and gave her the best hug a head was capable of giving.

"Thanks."

Bo looked at her. "What are you doing?"

Aika chuckled behind her tears. "No idea."

"No, really, what are you doing? Sen did the same when she was here, but with water."

Aika looked back at him, a puzzled expression on her face. "I'm crying."

"Oh. I was just wondering if there was a different name for it when you don't do it with water."

Aika froze. "What do you mean without water?"

Bo shrugged. "Well you're not using water at the moment."

Aika stared at him. "Bo. Humans are meant to cry water. What. am. I. crying?"

"Umm.. I don't want to worry you but.."

"But what?! I'm already worried!"

"Umm.. Well.. Aika, you're crying fire."

"What?!"

 **so... That's the end of Chapter five... Should be able to write Chapter six soon.. I actually have a question for any people reading this book. I've not planned the book out entirely yet, but I'd like you guys to pick one of these two options: Love, or friendship love? I won't give away anything else, but if you could pick one and leave it in the comments, it would be much appreciated as I cannot decide. This will affect the plot of the story so choose carefully. I will be going with the majority vote. If no one votes, I will have to just try and pick myself. Thanks.**


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